Here’s what the kids and I are doing Saturday: We’re going to the awesome new LEGO Discovery Center called Snapology to have fun and raise money for the American Cancer Society.

I’m going to write more about Snapology next week because it’s so cool it deserves a blog post of its own. But I wanted to get the word out about their fundraiser today.

Cedar Grove mom Melissa Skabich (see left) will be running the New York City Half Marathon for the ACS in a few weeks, and she and her husband are running the full in November. Her husband Paul (also left) lost his mother to cancer in December, and they’re passionate about the cause and determined to help any way they can. Her goal is in 2013 is to run 13 marathons, all to get donations for what she and Paul call ‘Team Determination.’

So they partnered with Snapology owners Donna and Steve Meccia who donated their space for the party. This Saturday, for $10 per person, families can head to Snapology to play, have LEGO building contests, do arts and crafts, eat snacks and win door prizes. Melissa’s three boys Paul, 9, Christopher, 7, and Evan, 3, will be helping with all of the activities. “They lost their grandmother so recently, so they’re eager to contribute to the cause,” Melissa says.

Can’t wait until April for Screen Free Week? I can, but if you’re looking forward to it, you can quench your thirst for a screen break on March 1-2 by participating in the National Day of Unplugging. The event invites people to forgo screens in favor of more meaningful activities.

In this Help a Mother Out, it’s a dad who is looking for help. In this feature, we ask you, our readers and other moms and dads, to help out with your best advice in comments. We haven’t written one in awhile, but we’re bringing it back.

A Facebook friend recently asked for advice on the best parenting books to help discipline his three year old. Recommendations came pouring in immediately. People suggested How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline For Children 2 -12, Touchpoints: Birth to 3 : Your Child’s Emotional and Behavioral Development, The Happiest Toddler on the Block: The New Way to Stop the Daily Battle of Wills and Raise a Secure and Well-Behaved One- to Four-Year-Old—and the list went on.

It made me laugh, because I had just seen this sketch from Portandia and couldn’t help but crack up:

How many of us have photos of our little girls dressed up as doctors, or scientists, or astronauts? Many of us do. We cherish our girls’ potential, yet statistics tell us that their ability to grow up and embody these roles is more limited than we realize.

Here’s the stark reality: Only 25% of individuals in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers are women—yet three-fourths of teenage girls are interested in, and even excited about, the possibility of having a STEM career. Beyond interest, economics play an important role. STEM careers are the fastest growing and best paying professions available, and indicators show that 75% of all jobs in the future will require some level of math or science proficiency.

It’s not that girls don’t aspire to be mathematicians, biomedical researchers, software developers, engineers, physicists or space scientists. In fact, girls tend to perform as well as boys in math and science in the early elementary years—and if they continue through high school and commit to STEM, they test well. The challenge is what happens in between. Between 4th and 6th grades, there’s an initial drop-off in interest. It accelerates through middle school and high school. By the first year of college, twice as many young men (29.3%) as young women (15.1%) are tracking towards STEM careers.

The students of Bloomfield High School have been busy with rehearsals for the upcoming Winter Musical Production of the enchanting musical classic, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is Broadway’s eighth longest running production which ran from 1994-2007 with 5,464 performances. Disney’s Beauty and the Beast features the award-winning score with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. The play is based on a book written by Linda Woolverton.

Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, would have been 109-years-old on March 2. In honor of the man who gave us The Cat in the Hat and many other childhood favorites, March 1 is Read Across America Day, an annual reading motivation and awareness program from the National Education Association (NEA) that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading.

This year’s theme brings the Cat in the Hat back—Grab your Hat and Read with the Cat. Return to the beloved Dr. Seuss tale of mischief and celebrate the joy of reading across the nation on Friday, March 1, this year’s official NEA’s Read Across America Day.

You can join in Read Across America and the celebration of Dr. Seuss in the following ways:

(CCM correction: The BOE is proposing salary increases of 2.6%. The MEA is looking for salary increases of 2.9%. The State and County averages to date have been 2.4% and 2.0%, respectively. The previous notice indicated the MEA was looking for a 3% increase.)

The Montclair High School Dance Company will perform its 2013 Spring Dance Concert on March 15-17.

The annual concert features a diverse group of 50 accomplished dancers performing premieres and repertoire pieces in a wide range of dance genres, from ballet to hip hop. The show continues the established tradition of excellence in what has become the most widely attended artistic event of the Montclair High School season.